JP3329267B2 - Sublimation type thermal transfer printer printing method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing method for a sublimation type thermal transfer printer, and more particularly to a printing method for a sublimation type thermal transfer printer which applies energy to a non-printing portion outside a print area of an ink ribbon.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art First, a background of a printing system of a sublimation type thermal transfer printer will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a front view showing the structure of an ink ribbon for a sublimation type thermal transfer printer. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a state in which the print area of the ink ribbon is sent along the printing direction and the ink ribbon is folded under the head and passes therethrough. FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a state in which wrinkles are generated. FIG. 7 shows an application in which a brake is applied to the ink ribbon supply side to apply tension to the ink ribbon to reduce the printing speed, and a low printing energy is applied for a long time to increase the density. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a state of a pulse.
As shown in FIG. 5, the ink ribbon for a sublimation type thermal transfer printer has a three-layer structure of a base material (pet) 1, a back coat layer 2, and an ink layer 3. In the sublimation type thermal transfer printer, as shown in FIG. 7, one dot (dot) is used.
The gradation is controlled by the printing energy of the applied pulse for applying the density of the image. In the high density region, printing is performed by applying a large amount of printing energy to the ink ribbon. In this case, the printing energy applied to the ink ribbon causes the substrate 1 to undergo creep deformation (elongation deformation). When the high density area is continuously printed, the deformation of the substrate 1 is accumulated, and wrinkles are generated under the head. As a result, a non-printed fine line is formed on the printing surface. Next, a conventional technique will be described. As shown in FIG. 6, wrinkles occur when the ink ribbon has a length of creep deformation of the base material 1 and the ink ribbon folds under the head and passes thereunder. At that time, a brake is applied to the supply side of the ink ribbon to apply tension to the ink ribbon, and the density is increased by slowing down the printing speed and applying low energy for a long time.

[0003]

However, recently, there has been an increasing demand for high-density, high-speed printing of sublimation type thermal transfer printers.
It is based on the balance between the ink ribbon take-up force and the braking force, and it is difficult to optimize it.In addition, there are problems that the structure is complicated and costs are high. Was slow.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a printing method of a sublimation type thermal transfer printer in which the size of a non-printing portion outside a printing area is variable.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing method of a sublimation type thermal transfer printer characterized in that the energy applied to the dots of the head is such that no color is generated in a non-printing portion outside the printing area of the ink ribbon.

[0005]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a printing system of a sublimation type thermal transfer printer according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.
This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a state in which wrinkles occur from a boundary between a portion to be printed and a portion not to be printed,
FIG. 2 is a front view showing a state where printing energy is applied to the ink ribbon, FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a state where printing energy is applied to a portion other than a printing portion (print area), and FIG. FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a non-printing portion other than a portion (printing area).

The printing method of the sublimation type thermal transfer printer according to the present invention is, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, a printing method of a sublimation type thermal transfer printer in which the size of the non-printing portion outside the print area of the ink ribbon is variable. The energy applied to the dots in the non-printing portion of the head is such that the color does not develop in the non-printing portion outside the printing area.

As shown in FIG. 1, wrinkles are generated from a boundary between a portion to be printed (print area, printed portion) and a portion not to be printed (non-printed portion). In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, wrinkles occur because the amount of elongation of the base material is extremely different between a portion to be printed (print area, printed portion) and a portion not to be printed (non-printed portion). Therefore, printing energy (energy that does not produce color) is also applied to the non-printed portion to reduce the difference in the amount of elongation (stress) at the boundary to prevent wrinkles. When printing the entire area, as shown in FIG. 3, printing energy is also applied to the non-printed portions at both ends. When printing is performed on a part of the print area, as shown in FIG. 4, the frictional force between the ink ribbon of the non-printed portion and the paper is dominant in the ink ribbon passing under the head. Therefore, the ink ribbon that has undergone creep deformation (elongation deformation) of the printing section easily passes under the head, and wrinkles easily occur. Therefore, an energy that does not cause color development is applied to the non-printed portion, and the elongation deformation (stress) of the ink ribbon is made uniform.

[0008]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it has the following effects. Control by ink ribbon tension is head pressure,
This is achieved by the balance between the ink ribbon take-up force and the braking force, so that optimization is easy, the structure is simple and the cost is low, the density can be increased, and the printing speed is increased.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a state in which wrinkles occur from a boundary between a portion to be printed and a portion not to be printed.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing a state where printing energy is applied to an ink ribbon.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a state where printing energy is applied to a portion other than a portion to be printed (print area).

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a non-printing portion other than a printing portion (print area).

FIG. 5 is a front view showing the structure of an ink ribbon for a sublimation type thermal transfer printer.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a state in which a print area of an ink ribbon is fed along a printing direction and wrinkles occur when the ink ribbon folds under a head and passes therethrough.

FIG. 7 applies a brake to the ink ribbon supply side to apply tension to the ink ribbon and reduce the printing speed,
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a state of an applied pulse that increases the density by applying low printing energy for a long time.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: base material 2: back coating layer 3: ink layer 4: printing energy 11: printed portion (print area) 12: non-printed portion 13: applied pulse

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Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] In a printing method of a sublimation-type thermal transfer printer in which the size of a non-printing portion outside a print area is variable, the energy supplied to the dots of the head is determined by the energy of the ink ribbon.
A printing method for a sublimation-type thermal transfer printer, wherein color is not generated in a non-printed portion outside a print area .